- Joined
- Jul 9, 2005
- Location
- Galena, Illinois 61036 U.S.A.
Don't know if this topic has been addressed previously, but it has always intrigued me.
Gary Gallagher says:
"Stonewall Jackson is one of the great bizarre characters from the Civil War and is just a bundle of oddities and eccentricities as a person.
"He was a hypochondriac. He had all kinds of worries about his body. He would often hold his right hand up in the air because he thought he didn’t have an equilibrium of blood in his body and if he held his right hand up, then the blood would flow down and re-establish equilibrium, as he put it. An interesting notion.
"He would not eat pepper because he thought it weakened his left leg—not his right leg, just his left leg. He wouldn’t let his back touch the back of a chair because he said it jumbled his organs, and it was important to sit upright so the organs were naturally atop of one another."
"He’s a very odd fellow. He’s in his late 30s early in the war and about to embark on a campaign that will make him the most famous Confederate military leader."
I've read similar by others.
Any other examples? Was this a myth? If true, what was the nature of this condition?
Gary Gallagher says:
"Stonewall Jackson is one of the great bizarre characters from the Civil War and is just a bundle of oddities and eccentricities as a person.
"He was a hypochondriac. He had all kinds of worries about his body. He would often hold his right hand up in the air because he thought he didn’t have an equilibrium of blood in his body and if he held his right hand up, then the blood would flow down and re-establish equilibrium, as he put it. An interesting notion.
"He would not eat pepper because he thought it weakened his left leg—not his right leg, just his left leg. He wouldn’t let his back touch the back of a chair because he said it jumbled his organs, and it was important to sit upright so the organs were naturally atop of one another."
"He’s a very odd fellow. He’s in his late 30s early in the war and about to embark on a campaign that will make him the most famous Confederate military leader."
I've read similar by others.
Any other examples? Was this a myth? If true, what was the nature of this condition?